WWE Survivor Series 2007 Review

The 21st Survivor Series was a show that took place in WWE’s last full year before they became a PG company again. In early 2008, the PG rating meant that they had to tone down on some of the things that made them popular than ever in the Attitude Era about a decade earlier.

The big story outside of the ring was the double murder-suicide committed by Chris Benoit in June 2007. He was an active WWE performer at the time, so when the news got out about his murder there was a black cloud surrounding the company. Benoit was a favorite of mine and I marked out as hard as anybody when he won the World Title in 2004. To have this happen three years later was a tragedy that the wrestling world had never seen before and I really hope we never see anything close to that again. From that day forward, WWE has done all they can to ignore Benoit’s place in the company’s history as best they can. Some people may not agree with that, but I think that’s the right thing to do.

There were three brands going strong at the time: Raw, Smackdown and ECW. It was clear that Raw was the A show, Smackdown was second in importance and ECW was definitely floundering by this point. Despite that, WWE made it a point to include major title matches from all three brands with Smackdown’s World Title match getting the main event slot for the second year in a row.

The top star in the company, John Cena, was injured for this show. He made his surprise return at the 2008 Royal Rumble two months after this.

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WWE Survivor Series
American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida
November 18, 2007

The opening video package showed some Survivor Series moments from the past. Then it focused on the big matches at this show including Team Triple H vs. Team Umaga, Orton vs. Michaels for the WWE Title and Batista vs. Undertaker for the World Title in a Hell in a Cell match, which will be the end of their rivalry that dominated 2007.

It looked like a packed house in Miami. Joey Styles and Tazz welcomed us to the show with an ECW match up first.

ECW Championship: CM Punk vs. John Morrison vs. The Miz

Pre-match notes: Punk was the face champion of ECW. Morrison and Miz were WWE Tag Team Champions and heels at the time. They were also ECW guys.

The heels worked together on Punk early, but Punk came back with a hard kick to the face of Miz. Cross body by Punk on Miz earned a two count and he hit a jumping heel kick on Morrison to knock him down. Punk dumped both guys to the floor and hit a suicide dive. Miz prevented a Punk attack and Morrison hit Punk with a forearm. Double suplex by Miz and Morrison. When Morrison went for a springboard attack, Miz shoved Morrison to the floor. Back suplex by Miz on Punk gets two. Punk came back with an enziguri kick on Miz while Morrison got payback with a slingshot dropkick on Miz. Morrison with a backbreaker into a neckbreaker combo for two. Miz grabbed Punk and sent him back first onto the floor. Morrison hit a suplex on Miz to bring him into the ring. Miz hit the Skull Crushing Finale although it wasn’t his finishing move at that point, so it only got a two count. Corner clothesline by Miz gets two. Morrison came back with a split legged corkscrew moonsault on Miz with Punk making the save. Punk nailed a hurricanrana off the top on Morrison with Miz hitting a Powerbomb on Morrison for two. Great spot. Punk dropkick on Miz for a two count. Punk hit his knee to the face into a bulldog combo for a two count. Backbreaker by Punk gets two. Punk went for the GTS on Morrison. It led to Morrison on the apron, Punk moved and Miz accidentally knocked Morrison to the floor. Punk picked up Miz and hit the Go To Sleep on Miz to retain the title at the 7:56 mark.

Winner by pinfall: CM Punk

Analysis: **3/4 The match was good with fast-paced action. It wasn’t a long match because it was under ten minutes, but it was also never boring. There weren’t a lot of rest holds or spots in the match where nothing was happening. A triple threat match allows you to do that. There are still the predictable nearfalls in the match where one guy goes for a cover and the third man breaks it up, but they set up the spots well. It was an entertaining match.

The Smackdown announce team of Michael Cole and John Bradshaw Layfield talked about MVP turning on his tag team partner Matt Hardy on the previous edition of Smackdown.

MVP, the United States Champion, was interviewed backstage by a woman named Anastasia, who I don’t remember. He talked about how he’s better than Matt Hardy, he’s better than anybody on the other team tonight and he’s better than anybody in the building.

Analysis: I was a huge fan of MVP. I would have liked to see him get to the main event level, but it didn’t happen. Ken Kennedy and him were probably the two guys from this era that should have reached that level.

It’s time for a ten-diva tag match that is not a traditional elimination match. It’s just one fall. The Raw announce team of Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler were shown on camera for the first time.

The heel team women are: Women’s Champion Beth Phoenix (Raw – settle down Edge), Layla (ECW), Jillian Hall (Raw), Victoria (Smackdown) and Melina (Raw). When Melina did her entrance, she actually stumbled on the apron. Oops. Then she did it again without a problem.

The face team women are: Torrie Wilson (Smackdown), Michelle McCool (Smackdown – settle down Undertaker), Kelly Kelly (ECW), Maria (Raw) and my favorite Mickie James (Raw). Mickie received the loudest ovation on the face team.

Beth Phoenix, Layla, Jillian Hall, Victoria & Melina vs. Mickie James, Torrie Wilson, Michelle McCool, Kelly Kelly & Maria

Pre-match notes: I already covered the faces and heels. It’s a one fall match rather than elimination style. That’s probably because some of the women especially on the face side were not experienced.

McCool worked with Victoria early with McCool hitting a boot to the face. Clothesline by Torrie on Victoria. Victoria came back with a sidewalk slam for two. Layla missed a kick and Torrie hit a sloppy looking suplex. Jillian kicked Kelly and put Kelly’s face against her chest – great technical wrestling hold…or not. Kelly countered the handspring elbow with a kick. Maria was wrestling in basically a bikini as she hit a Jillian with a kick. Beth tagged in with a powerslam for two on Maria. Melina nailed a kick to the back of Maria. Melina missed an attack against the ropes, so Maria tagged in Mickie, who was on fire with a Thesz Press on Melina. Double boot by Mickie took down Melina. The faces knocked the heels off the apron. The women fought on the floor. Mickie grabbed Melina by the hair, kissed her on the lips and hit a Long Kiss Goodnight Mick Kick for the pinfall win at the 4:42 mark.

Winners by pinfall: Mickie James, Torrie Wilson, Michelle McCool, Kelly Kelly & Maria

Analysis: * A basic tag match where all ten women got to get in the ring briefly before they built up to Mickie getting the hot tag. Interesting finishing move by Mickie there. The crowd was into the match enough, so at least they delivered a finish that people liked.

There was a shot of Hornswoggle in the locker room with William Regal and Jonathon Coachman standing by. The Great Khali faces Hornswoggle. I’m groaning at the thought of reviewing that match.

There were comments from earlier in the day with Randy Orton talking about how he’s going to beat Shawn Michaels while he called himself a one man dynasty. Shawn Michaels commented that Orton has made his life hell and Michaels is going to take the WWE Championship from him.

World Tag Team Championships: Trevor Murdoch & Lance Cade vs. Hardcore Holly & Cody Rhodes

Pre-match notes: These teams were from the Raw brand. Murdoch & Cade were the heel tag champs. Holly was the veteran face with young Cody as his partner. Cody was only 22 years old at the time.

Rhodes started for the faces. When Holly tagged in, Murdoch sent him face first into the middle turnbuckle. Holly came back with a boot on Cade and a clothesline that sent him over the top to the floor. Rhodes threw Murdoch over the top to knock down Cade on the floor. Holly got a rollup on Cade for a two count. Murdoch tagged in with a running boot to the face. Cade picked up Murdoch and slammed him down with a leg drop on Holly. Holly nailed a suplex on Murdoch. Holly avoided some heel moves as Rhodes got the hot tag. Back body drop by Rhodes on Murdoch followed by a bulldog. Missile dropkick by Rhodes gets two on Murdoch as Cade made the save. Holly took out Cade with a clothesline that sent them both to the floor. Murdoch hit Rhodes with a sunset flip into a Powerbomb (known as Code Red) pinning predicament for the win at the 7:18 mark.

Winners by pinfall: Trevor Murdoch & Lance Cade

Analysis: ** It was an average tag match with the heel champs retaining. The crowd wasn’t into it very much although there was some mild support for Rhodes as the young guy.

Post match, looked upset about the loss. He tapped Cody on the arm and left.

Analysis: Cody ended up turning heel on Holly by having Ted Dibiase become his tag team partner. That led to Cody and Ted joining Randy Orton in the Legacy group.

The three announce teams went over the Survivor Series elimination match that’s up next. No Matt Hardy since MVP injured him.

Triple H and his Survivor Series team were interviewed backstage. They’re the faces comprised of Triple H, unmasked Kane, Rey Mysterio and Jeff Hardy, who was the Intercontinental Champion. Kane said they don’t have to get along as he mentioned Triple H called Kane a murdered and pretended to have sex with his dead girlfriend. Katie Vick reference! Jeff mentioned that Hunter put him in the hospital before. Hunter said sorry and said that it’s a night where guys can put aside the terrible things they’ve done to eachother and do something terrible to somebody else.

Analysis: That was an interesting promo. I didn’t remember the part with Kane referencing Katie Vick, but that was funny.

Here are the guys in the elimination match in order of entrance. From the heel team it was Mr. Kennedy (Raw), Finlay (Smackdown), Big Daddy V with Matt Striker (ECW), United States Champion MVP (Smackdown) and team captain Umaga.

The face team was up next with Kane (Smackdown), Rey Mysterio (Smackdown), Jeff Hardy (Raw) and team captain Triple H (Raw). Way to include an ECW guy on the heel side while not even trying to do that on the face side. Good effort, creative team.

Survivor Series Elimination Match: Umaga, Mr. Kennedy, Finlay, Big Daddy V & MVP (w/Matt Striker) vs. Triple H, Jeff Hardy, Kane & Rey Mysterio

Pre-match notes: As mentioned earlier it’s 5 on 4 for the heels because Matt Hardy was storyline hurt and nobody replaced him. I already mentioned who the heels and faces are.

Mysterio worked with Kennedy to open the match with Mysterio hitting a sunset flip into a powerbomb for two. That’s similar to what Murdoch did to win his match, but it looked better when Rey did it. Hardy tagged in with Kennedy hitting a clothesline that took him down. MVP got in there for a bit to work over Hardy. Big Daddy hit Jeff with a headbutt followed by a forearm smash. Hardy was able to tag in Kane. V hit Kane with a belly to belly suplex for a two count. Kane came back with punches, a corner clothesline and Kane hit MVP with a sidewalk slam. Kane up top and he hit Big Daddy V with a clothesline. Finlay into the ring, so Kane gave him a Chokeslam. Big Daddy V hit a Samoan Drop on Kane and an elbow drop eliminated him.

Kane eliminated by Big Daddy V

Analysis: That may be a bit of a surprise, but this was during a push for Big Daddy V, who had yet to be pinned on ECW. Putting him over Kane showed that he had a lot of momentum.

Hunter went after V with a facebuster, but V crushed him with a clothesline. V missed a splash on Hunter and Umaga tagged in. Belly to belly suplex by Umaga on Hunter followed by a headbutt to the chest. The fans chanted for Triple H. Umaga went to the middle ropes, took too long, Hunter moved and tagged in Mysterio. The speed of Mysterio worked as he ran the ropes and hit a dropkick. Mysterio with a hurricanrana and 619 on Umaga. Mysterio with a springboard seated senton for a two count, which was a great nearfall. Mysterio went for a diving attack, but Umaga caught him and hit a spinning slam. Umaga hit a Samoan Spike on Mysterio to eliminate him.

Rey Mysterio eliminated by Umaga

It’s 5 on 2 with Hunter and Jeff left for the faces. Hardy nailed Kennedy with kicks and punches. MVP saved Kennedy from an attack in the corner with Hardy crashing hard into the mat. MVP with a nice flapjack on Hardy. MVP missed a running kick, so Jeff hit him with the Twist of Fate to eliminate him.

MVP eliminated by Jeff Hardy

Analysis: The elimination made sense since MVP took out his brother Matt.

Hardy with an enziguri on Kennedy and Hunter tagged in. Hunter with a facebuster followed by a clothesline. Spinebuster by Hunter on Kennedy. V went for the save, but Hunter moved out of the way. Hunter avoided an attack from V and V went to the floor. Hunter pinned Kennedy to eliminate him.

Mr. Kennedy eliminated by Triple H

Big Daddy V caught Hardy and sent him back first into the steel post. V worked on both faces in the corner a bit. The faces avoided a corner splash, so Hunter and Jeff did a double DDT on V to eliminate him.

Big Daddy V eliminated by Triple H

It’s two on two as Finlay stomped away on Hunter in the corner. Finlay worked on Hunter for a bit. When Finlay went for an attack off the middle rope, Hunter got his boot up to stun him. Hardy tagged in with a corner dropkick. Hardy was on the apron, so Umaga kicked him to knock him down. Clothesline by Finlay on Hardy. After a whip into the corner, Hardy hit the Whisper in the Wind move to take him down. Hardy kicked Umaga away. Hunter tagged in against Finlay. Hunter with the running high knee on Finlay. Spinebuster by Hunter on Finlay. Umaga saved Finlay with a boot to the face. Hunter avoided the Celtic Cross and hit the Pedigree to eliminate Finlay.

Finlay eliminated by Triple H

Umaga is the last man left for his team. Umaga missed a corner splash. Triple H hit a Pedigree on Umaga. Hardy tagged in and hit the Swanton Bomb to pin Umaga for the final elimination.

Umaga eliminated by Jeff Hardy

Survivors: Triple H and Jeff Hardy

Analysis: ***1/2 A very good traditional elimination match. It was all about putting over Triple H and Jeff Hardy, which is why they eliminated all five guys. I thought all the eliminations were well done in terms of telling the story with the faces in position to try to come back from a 5 on 2 scenario. The heel side featured some pretty good talent although none of them were consistent main eventers, so there was a bit of a lack of star power on their side.

Post match, Triple H and Jeff Hardy celebrated the win.

Analysis: Hardy and Triple H went on to have a number one contender’s match for the WWE Title at Armageddon one month later. Hardy won that as WWE started to push him to that main event level.

Hornswoggle was nervous in the office with Jonathon Coachman and William Regal. Vince McMahon showed up telling Coach and Regal to leave. This was when people thought Hornswoggle was Vince’s son. Vince told him that he made the match against Khali because his last name is McMahon and the McMahons are warriors that are impervious to pain. Vince ended it by saying the McMahons stick together.

Shane McMahon entered the arena. He introduced his father Vince. Shane also introduced us to his little brother standing at 4’4” the man named Hornswoggle McMahon. Hornswoggle made his entrance.

The Great Khali made his entrance with his manager/brother Ranjin Singh.

Hornswoggle (w/Vince and Shane McMahon) vs. The Great Khali (w/Ranjin Singh)

Pre-match notes: Hornswoggle’s the face, Khali is the heel and the fans are the losers for having to witness this.

Vince and Shane sat on chairs at ringside. The fans chanted for Shaquille O’Neal, who was on the Miami Heat at the time. The camera showed him at ringside. The fans chanted for Shaq. Vince grabbed the microphone to tell the fans that he doesn’t give a damn what they want and told the ref to start the match. Hornswoggle hit a dropkick on Singh on the floor. Khali yelled at Hornswoggle to scare him. Hornswoggle sprayed green mist on Singh and tackled him. Khali tried to get him, but Hornswoggle went under the ring. Hornswoggle went back in the ring with a shillelagh weapon in hand. Khali blocked the attack and slapped Hornswoggle in the head. Finley went into the ring and hit Khali in the leg with a shillelagh. He hit Khali a few times followed by a kick to the groin. Finlay grabbed Hornswoggle and got him out of the ring. The crowd cheered as they left at the 3:15 mark.

Winner by disqualification: The Great Khali

Analysis: -* Minus one star. This was really bad. What a terrible angle this was. It was supposed to be Mr. Kennedy, but getting suspended for steroids and multiple injuries cost him the spot as Vince’s son. That’s why they went with the Hornswoggle joke route, which was transitioned to Finlay as Hornswoggle’s dad in early 2008. Let us never speak of this again.

A commercial aired for WrestleMania 24 on March 30, 2008.

They showed baseball players Alfonso Soriano and Johnny Damon in the crowd.

A video package aired to set up Randy Orton defending the WWE Championship against Shawn Michaels. There was a moment at Cyber Sunday one month earlier with Orton punching Michaels in the groin leading to a disqualification. Earlier in the year, Orton did the infamous punt to knock Michaels out for several months. Highlights aired of Michaels with the Superkick on five different occasions. The stipulation was that if Michaels uses the Superkick then he will be disqualified.

Michaels made his entrance to a loud ovation. JR said the stipulation for the match wasn’t fair, which makes sense since William Regal was the heel GM at the time.

Orton made his entrance. He still had his “Hey Nothing You Can Say” song at this point. He was the champion that was booed.

WWE Championship: Randy Orton vs. Shawn Michaels

Pre-match notes: If Michaels (the face challenger) uses the Superkick then he will be disqualified. If Orton (the heel champion) is disqualified then he will lose the WWE Championship. Orton was 27 at this point and Michaels was 42.

Michaels had a vice grip like headlock on Orton’s head for the first two minutes of the match. Orton was able to get him off his back and then Michaels applied the vice grip headlock again. The first five minutes of this match saw Michaels in control with that tight headlock. Orton escaped to the floor, Michaels with a dropkick and Michaels hit a springboard moonsault to take him out on the floor. Back in the ring, Orton rolled through a cross body block for a two count. Orton uppercut knocked down Michaels. Michaels came back with a Sharpshooter. He didn’t apply it properly, but it was good enough. Orton got to the ropes to break the hold. Michaels was on the apron, Orton caught him and hit the draping DDT that would become a regular part of his arsenal. Michaels came back with an atomic drop, but Orton stopped his momentum with a dropkick for a two count.

Michaels with two body slams. Michaels went up top and hit the flying elbow drop. Michaels teased a Superkick, Orton ducked his head and Michaels did an inside cradle for two with a big pop from the crowd for the nearfall. Orton sat on top to counter a sunset flip. Michaels applied the Crossface submission. He had the submission on for nearly one minute. Orton crawled over to the ropes and put his foot on the bottom rope to break the hold. Orton came back with a nasty clothesline that Michaels sold in a big way. Orton with a modified backbreaker. Orton teased the Punt kick of his. Michaels avoided it and applied the Ankle Lock submission. Michaels wrapped his legs around the leg of Orton for the grapevine version of the move that Kurt Angle did so many times. Orton was writhing in pain and even biting his own fingers to numb the pain. Orton kicked out of it using his other leg. When Michaels went for a Figure Four Leglock, Orton kicked him away and Michaels hit the ring post. Michaels was dazed, Orton had a bloody mouth and went for an RKO. Michaels teased a superkick, realized he couldn’t do it and that hesitation led to Orton hitting the RKO. Orton covered for the one…two…and three to retain the WWE Title at the 17:48 mark.

Winner by pinfall: Randy Orton

Analysis: **** Great match that was four stars out of five. The story was all about Michaels trying to get the victory in a number of different ways since he couldn’t use his finisher. They both went for pinfall attempts the whole match, which shows how much they wanted to win. It’s all about putting over the importance of winning the match. Michaels’ performance was incredible. Orton certainly kept up with him, but it was the veteran Michaels that really made that match special. I think Shawn is the best in-ring performer ever and while this isn’t a match that I would put in his top ten matches, it’s an example of how talented he was. I remember going into this match thinking that maybe they’ll put the title on Michaels for a few months, but it didn’t happen. Orton was booked as a strong champion thanks to this feud with Michaels, who put him over clean at a major show like Survivor Series.

After the match was over, Michaels stayed on the mat without moving for a couple of minutes. Orton left the ring, but then he slithered his way back in there. Orton dragged Michaels over to a turnbuckle and yelled at Michaels to tell Orton that he’s the best. Orton turned back around and Michaels crushed him with that patented Sweet Chin Music Superkick. Orton was out in the middle ring. Big pop from the crowd for that. Michaels left the ring first.

Analysis: Great moment. No Sweet Chin Music during the match, but Michaels gave the crowd what they wanted after it was over.

A “Break The Code” video aired telling us that the second coming is on Raw the next night.

Analysis: It was for the return of Chris Jericho.

Batista was shown walking backstage with the World Title on his shoulder. The Hell in a Cell structure lowered on the ring.

A video package aired showing highlights of the Batista victory over The Undertaker at Cyber Sunday when Batista hit two Batista Bombs on Undertaker leading to the pinfall victory. Batista said that Undertaker won one at WrestleMania, Batista beat him at Cyber Sunday and they had two draws. Undertaker challenged him to one more match for the World Title and wanted it to be Hell in a Cell, so that’s how they set this up.

Analysis: I liked their matches. They had chemistry. Batista isn’t as tall as Undertaker, but they are both big guys and sometimes big guys have bad matches. Not these two.

The World Heavyweight Champion Batista made his entrance first. The Undertaker made his entrance second. Both guys had really good reactions from the crowd as expected. It’s not like either of them was a face that got booed by people.

World Heavyweight Championship Hell in a Cell: Batista vs. The Undertaker

Pre-match notes: Both guys were faces. Neither guy was a heel during the entire feud. I think WWE liked them both in those roles, so that’s what they were for all of 2007.

Undertaker was in control early. He got a nearfall after a big boot. Undertaker grabbed a chair from under the ring. When Undertaker went into the ring with the chair, Batista hit a Spear to knock the chair out of his hands. Batista had the chair in hand and Undertaker booted him in the face to knock it down. They went outside of the ring with Undertaker ramming the face of Batista into the side of the cell. Leg drop on the apron by Undertaker. The chair was in play again as Undertaker drove the chair into the throat of Batista. Batista was bleeding from the mouth to sell that move while Undertaker jabbed the chair into the throat. Undertaker went for the Old School Clothesline off the top, but Batista caught him with a spinebuster for a two count. That was a cool counter. Batista continued on offense with shoulder tackles, a clothesline and a running powerslam for a two count. They went outside the ring with Batista sending Taker into the cage and then a clothesline on the floor for Batista. Taker got the momentum back as he whipped Batista hard into the steps. Taker launched Batista face first into the cell. Batista went down face first, the camera was on Undertaker and Batista came up bleeding. Undertaker nailed Batista in the head with a chair shot to the head.

Analysis: Blading during a match and a chair shot to the head are two things that don’t happen in WWE anymore. They stopped about six months after this when the company went PG.

They went back into the ring with Batista hitting a superplex. Undertaker locked in the triangle choke as Cole and JBL noted that Undertaker beat Khali with that move. Batista grabbed the ropes and the ref made him break it, but the announcers noted that it should not be a rope break in this match. The announcers are right about that. They went outside the ring, Batista blocked an attack with the steel steps and Batista hit Undertaker in the head with the steps four times. The Undertaker was a bloody mess as well. Back in the ring, Batista hit corner punches and of course, Undertaker countered that into the Last Ride powerbomb like he did so many times. It was good for a two count. Undertaker nailed a Chokeslam for a two count. Batista caught him with a spinebuster for a two count. Another spinebuster by Batista. Batista went under the ring and brought a table into the ring. Batista picked up Undertaker and gave him a Powerbomb through the table. Batista covered, but Undertaker got his left shoulder up before the count of three. Great nearfall there. Batista teased a Batista Bomb on the steels steps (they were in the ring) and Undertaker hit a back body drop sending Batista back first onto the steps. Undertaker hit a Tombstone, made the cover and Batista kicked out at two. Awesome nearfall there. Undertaker set up for the Tombstone on the steps and he connected with it, but the ref was pulled out of the ring. Edge was dressed like a camera guy. The crowd was screaming and freaking out about what they saw. Edge had the camera in his hands and hit Undertaker in the head with it. The Undertaker’s head was up against the steel steps. Edge picked up the chair and gave Undertaker a Conchairto on the steps. Edge put Batista’s hand on Undertaker’s chest, the ref counted the one…two…and three. Batista wins at the 21:24 mark.

Winner by pinfall: Batista

Analysis: ***3/4 It was a very good match, but also a bit below expectations based on some of the other matches they had earlier in the year. I remember their WrestleMania 23 and Backlash 2007 matches as better than this. Obviously, the interference from Edge tainted things a bit because it led to the cheap ending. I remember thinking that maybe Batista was going heel because of the result of this match, but that’s not what happened. I liked the story of the match with Undertaker in control early on, Batista made his comeback and both guys traded blows after that. It became a bloody battle with each guy hitting signature spots for several believable nearfalls.

Post match, Edge slowly left the ring as the cell went up. The crowd was stunned by what happened. JBL said that Edge robbed the world of a masterpiece of a match. The Undertaker went to sit up, so Edge grabbed a chair and nailed him with a chair shot to the head.

Analysis: It was a vicious attack by Edge. It set off the rivalry between Edge and Undertaker that dominated much of 2008 including the main event of WrestleMania 24 with Undertaker beating Edge for the World Title.

Edge went up the ramp staring back at Undertaker. The camera wasn’t on the World Champion Batista much. They just focused on Edge and Undertaker. The show went off the air with Edge’s music playing while Undertaker stared back at him.

The show had a run time of 2 hours, 45 minutes.

FINAL THOUGHTS

– The Michaels/Orton match was clearly the best match. The Undertaker/Batista match was good too, but they had better matches at other shows.

– I liked the way the elimination match elevated Jeff Hardy. You could tell with this victory that WWE was interested in featuring him in a bigger role. He deserved it and the crowd was ready for him to be featured more. Of course Triple H had to go over too, but that was because it set up their match at the Armageddon PPV one month later.

– I know why Vince McMahon elected to do Khali vs. Hornswoggle because of the visual that matchup provided, but I think it was a bad idea. That whole “bastard son” angle was a bad idea.

– It was good to see CM Punk retaining his championship. This was around the time when people were really hoping he would be moved to Raw or Smackdown since the ECW brand was clearly the least important of the three. He ended up winning the Money in the Bank briefcase at the next WrestleMania and 2008 was a pretty good year for him.

– The attack by Edge was vicious and fit his character perfectly. I’m sure some people hated that it ruined the finish of the match, but it fits the story and the character then I’m all for it.

Show rating (out of 10): 7

It was a very good show with the three main matches all delivering as above-average matches. Some of the other matches felt like a waste of time, but I was able to get through them.

OPINIONS

Best Match: Randy Orton vs. Shawn Michaels

Worst Match: Great Khali vs. Hornswoggle

Most Memorable Moment: Edge showing up during the Hell in a Cell match to prevent The Undertaker from winning the World Title.

FIVE STARS

1. Shawn Michaels

2. Randy Orton

3. Batista

4. The Undertaker

5. (tie) Triple H

5. (tie) Jeff Hardy

That’s all for me. Check out the full list of my WWE PPV Review archive right here. Thanks for reading.

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My contact info is below.

John Canton

Email mrjohncanton@gmail.com